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TAKE ME TO The Fictional Times!
Established April 17, 2001
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A FICTIONAL TIMES SPECIAL REPORT News & Analysis by Gilbert Hurricane, Mort Smepp, Biff Revox, and Heather Boutique Dec. 22, 2007 |
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Washington, D.C. - (GNS)
Gov't Agents Infiltrated and Gained Leadership Positions as Early as 2002, Memos, Tapes Reveal Secret tapes, memos and various documents obtained by this e-newspaper reveal without question that the CIA has been running various anti-war groups, among them the most dominant coalitions and several on-line sites, enough so that it can be concluded the CIA has been running the bulk of the anti-war movement. The documents indicate the CIA has been formulating strategies and tactics that guaranteed almost no impact would be made in ending the war while at the same time tying up resources, diverting and manipulating the intentions of many people, and identifying and nullifying the actions of leaders and groups that would have led to a more dramatic, more successful movement since 2002. The documents and tapes also reveal the CIA conducted an exhaustive study of the anti-war movement of the 1960s and early 1970s, and various political and social protests since, including the anti-nuclear movement and the movements around US activities in El Salvador and Nicaragua, and studied its own efforts and the efforts of other US intelligence agencies to infiltrate and disrupt these organizations, including COINTELPRO, to learn what was done right, done wrong, and what could be improved regarding the government's need to contain, stifle or snuff out the movement. All the documents stress that the goal since 2002 has been not to destroy but to divert the movement, not to engage in some of the heavy-handed, illegal or irrevocable strategies and tactics used in the past, but instead to try to acheive control so that those tactics are not even necessary. Key to the success of the agency, again according to these documents, was the agency's ability to take advantage of a series of economic, political and social changes beginning in 1980, some of which the agency admits without detail that it was involved in. Among these changes: the devastation of unions in the 80s along with the transfer of wealth from the middle class to the corporate class along with increased conglomeration of certain industries, changes in consumption patterns and education that led to a dumbing down of the populace combined with more sophisticated and readily available entertainment diversions; and the easier access to credit. Specifically cited were the breaking up of Patco by President Reagan, often regarded as the beginning of the end of the American labor movement, the Telecommunications Act passed under President Clinton in the 90s, which allowed for deregulation of public utilities and increased conglomeration into centralized ownership of the media creating as a by-product the decrease or elimination of many independent and alternative voices, combined with the willingness of the Clinton Administration and especially the Bush Administration to allow additional transfers of wealth through tax cuts along a combination of relaxed enforcement or the de-funding of enforcement altogether. All of these changes combined to make the population as a whole more fearful, more desperate, more gullible, more apt to dismiss lengthy analysis and painstaking work and instead look for quick fixes, less able to pursue social and political activism at a level that would parallel the 60s as money tightened and costs for land, housing, food and healthcare rose, less able to grasp lessons of history, more able to be manipulated. Keep Them Marching and Marching and Marching According to a passage in one memo, titled "Have Them March and March and March": "Most people know less about the 60s Civil Rights movement and anti-war movement than we do. Those who do remember strategies and tactics accurately are over 50 and are mostly ignored by younger protestors. But even most 50 or older did not participate in the rougher, edgier, more violent or more powerful demonstrations and illegal activities ranging from civil disobedience to bombings. What most people remember are the marches. And this memory is fueled by news footage shown in documentaries and feature films. They see these films and conclude that marching is all that was done and therefore is all that was and is necessary. Our goal should be to spend as much time and effort as possible to get anyone against the war to spend their time marching and marching and marching." Another passage from another memo urges agents to make sure speakers at the marches and rallies are not potential candidates nor effective leaders who might successfully urge those in attendance to engage in electoral or disruptive activity that might actually threaten the war effort. "Make sure speakers at rallies are loud, spend more of their time thanking those in attendance, announcing future marches, reporting on how many people are there, and leading chants than they do speaking to any issues of substance regarding actually challenging what they may refer to as 'the war machine'. Try to see to it that 'the war machine' never comes up, but if it does, make sure there are enough speakers to talk about all the problems all over the world caused by 'the war machine' so that there is no time spent on actual organizing. Make sure that calls to action center on contributing money to the coalition that put together the march so there can be another demonstration, and on calls to come to the next demonstration." Operation Bait And Switch One of the most successful operations, Operation "Bait & Switch", was run by the agency before, during and after the 2006 elections. According to the memo outlining this program, "Operation Bait and Switch is designed to give the liberals, liberal-left, and left the impression that the election of 2006 could be and was a turning point in the promulgation of the Iraq War and War on Terror. A multi-part program taking place in numerous congressional districts across the nation, the idea is to give those opposed to the war the sense that they are indeed voting for a change in the direction of the war, the way the war is run, and they are voting ultimately for the end of the war, for a withdrawal of American troops. This program will involve the manipulation of the media as well as maximum manipulation of the anti-war groups. The goal is three-fold: (1) Convince war opponents that voting for a Democrat is the best way to end the war, (2) create the sense, should Democrats win majorities in both houses that the war will be over soon, and (3), when the war is not over soon, create the notion that the Democrats have sold out the voters-- all of this even though Democrats elected were not actually, as a group, for ending the war soon in the first place." The memo continues, "Disgruntled war opponents will then fall into three camps, all with attitudes reinforced by agency personnel: one group will be so discouraged it will leave political activity altogether, concluding not only that voting doesn't make a difference, but also concluding that nothing makes a difference; the second group will decide to work even harder in the Democratic party, convinced that not enough real anti-war Democrats were elected; the third group will continue their anti-war activities, already ineffective, but with an added layer of rhetoric, that the Democrats broke their promise to end the war. It is built in that none of these groups, with these approaches, will be successful in ending the war. Those who remain in the Democratic Party will ultimately continue to embrace an 'anybody but GOP' attitude when push comes to shove and so will surrender their anti-war position and not enforce a strict 'end the war' action on their part in the voting booth; those who continue to march and gripe will just continue to march a gripe. The drop-outs are irrelevant except to the extent they encourage others to drop out." The memo, written a year before the election, includes an addendum analysis of the 2006 election and further instructions on how to exploit the notion that the Democrats sold out those against the war despite all evidence that most Democrats who won were not ardently anti-war to begin with. The analysis of the election, in part, notes that most of the victors in contested Congressional races where Democrats won, won because of local issues or scandals and not because the Democrats took strong anti-war stands. It points out that several elected Democrats either took no stand on the war or were conservative on it and/or had a multitude of conservative positions (i.e. Paul Casey, anti-abortion Democratic victor in Pennsylvania) or defeated anti-war or otherwise moderate Republicans (i.e. Lincoln Chaffee in Rhode Island). Additionally, several races were very close, and of the few races where the war probably was an issue, several of those were very close (i.e. David Loebsack in Indiana and Patrick Murphy in Pennsylvania). "There was no overwhelming mandate or even slim mandate from the public to end the war, but every effort must be made, especially on 'the left' to amplify the notion that Democrats were elected to end the war and didn't and haven't," the memo emphasizes, "so it is our job to create and foster the notion that there was such a mandate and the Democrats have utterly failed to abide by it." A summary from the memo illustrates this: In the Senate, Democratic candidates defeated six Republican incumbents: Rick Santorum (Penn.), Mike DeWine (Ohio), Lincoln Chafee (R.I.), Jim Talent (Mo.), Conrad Burns (Mont.), and George Allen (Va.) In Missouri incumbent Jim Talent (R) was defeated by Claire McCaskill (D) 50% - 47%; the race turned in part on McCaskill's pro-stem cell research stand and Talent's unwavering opposition to it. A state initiative on stem cell research was also on the ballot. In Montana, incumbent Conrad Burns (R), who barely won when he was elected in 2000 was defeated by Jon Tester (D) by less than 4,000 votes (out of almost 400,000 cast); Burns said some things he was criticized for (criticizing out-of-state firefighters who had helped fight Montana fires) and was thought to have been negatively impacted by the GOP scandals. In Ohio, incumbent Mike DeWine (R) lost Sherrod Brown after a more anti-war candidate (Paul Hackett) withdrew. DeWine was impacted by GOP scandals in Ohio ("Coingate"); Republicans weren't enthusiastic for DeWine because of his participation in the moderates effort ("Gang of 14") regarding judicial appointments. In Pennsyvlania, incumbent Rick Santorum (R) lost to pro-life Democrat Paul Casey (D). Casey's victory is attributed primarily to Santorum's ultra-conservative attitudes toward women and on other issues; a book he wrote published before the election questioned the need for public schools and argued it wasn't a good idea for women to be in the workplace. In Rhode Island, incumbent Lincoln Chaffee (R), a moderate, defeated a strong challenge from the conservative wing of the party, then lost to Sheldon Whitehouse (D), who won perhaps primarily as Democratic voters usually satisfied with Chaffee opted for a chance to have the Democrats gain control of the Senate. And in Virginia, incumbent George Allen (R) lost in a tight race (less than 0.5%) to former Secretary of the Navy (and decorated combat veteran) Jim Webb (D). Allen undid himself with many slips (The "Macaca" incident) and Webb, because of his background, could not be challenged as weak on defense, the war on terror or military affairs. Webb has subsequently written pieces and given speeches on a variety of issues concerning what some would call 'economic justice', but has not taken a distinctly anti-war stand that would please ardent anti-war activists." Another memo identifies what the CIA regarded as successful anti-war strategies and tactics and urges agents in leadership positions of anti-war groups to steer clear of these or any hint of these. "Effective actions in past movements were based on strong understandings of commitment and power. Activists and their followers knew that they had to threaten those in power and that the threats that worked best took two forms: serious, unrelenting electoral challenges and the disruption of what was known as 'business as usual', usually through various kinds of civil disobedience, i.e. blocking troop trains or enlistment or training facilities. Secondarily, many activists committed themselves to building a culture with what can best be described as an anti-establishment anti-military, anti-war mentality. This reinforced those who participated in the front lines, and the actions of those in the front lines inspired others to join them or at least participate in the supportive culture." These days, the memo notes, "...little or no real commitment is required of the participants who believe that merely attending a rally or vigil will actually stop the war, thus they have no real power. This naive belief must be taken full advantage of as these people must be encouraged to continue these futile actions." Recent examples of successful action the agency is worried about or actions that caused alarm include the demonstrations in Seattle against the WTO when the city was virtually shut down and the WTO was chased from the site, and the more recent demonstrations in Olympia, Washington, where militant anti-war activists blocked military shipments at the port. Sheehan, Moore, Hayden, Klein, Ritter, McGovern, and Greenwald Singled Out For Comments The popularity of Cindy Sheehan and Michael Moore initially concerned the agency, but the memos reveal they are not as concerned about either of them now: "Sheehan took the agency by surprise with her spontaneous demonstration at Crawford. Spontaneity with massive response should always send up a red flag. It is attractive and needs to be discouraged. The memo continues, "Fortunately, the movement itself burnt out Sheehan and she collapsed. Her return will be thoughtful, methodical but much less inspiring; she bears watching but there is no immediate cause for action. The same is true for Michael Moore, who rallied people with his Fahrenheit 911 but has now moved on to other topics which, along with his association with Hilary Clinton, signals he too needs to be watched, but no immediate action is necessary." Activist Tom Hayden, a longtime activist (since the 60s) also "bears watching, but his organizing within the Democratic party with his Progressive Democrats has little power and at this point serves as a successful diversion from the more effective activities that he now discourages. Even Hayden noted at a recent event, 'It's not like we're going to the barricades this afternoon.'" Filmmaker Robert Greenwald, former weapons inspector Scott Ritter, and former CIA analyst Ray McGovern were also singled out for commentary: "These three could be dangerous. They are careful, methodical, logical, articulate, and so far, indefatigable. And their credentials are hard to challenge. They are not an immediate cause for alarm because, despite Ritter's book on organizing to end the war, they rarely get involved in advocating political solutions other than urging the audience to "organize". They are, for all practical purposes, still ensconced in the closed paradigm of the two-party system, which does not threaten the war effort. Efforts can be undertaken to challenge their credibility (i.e. Ritter is a Republican and McGovern was CIA-- is it possible they are agents provocateurs, working for us?). At some point it may be necessary to turn them over to another operation. "Of the younger generation," the memo continued, "only Naomi Klein seems to be gaining power and seems to be on the verge of recommending a break with the passive majority of anti-war activists and participants. She could be trouble. "Other youngsters are either caught up in single-issue movements and reject activity within political parties, are caught up in a fashionable but unthreatening version of Anarchy-- unthreatening because the very nature of their philosophy works against coherent organization and coalition-building, or are caught up in a variety of internal decision-making issues (i.e. consensus decision-making) such that coherent action is unlikely to occur. Still others have thrown themselves in to what can be described as 'the 9-11 conspiracy' movement and are so fanatical about it that they criticize various leaders and speakers (Hayden, Moore, Klein, Ritter, McGovern) for not endorsing their theories about 'what really happened on 9-11', thus ignoring Ritter's sensible (and dangerous) advice regarding organizing and ignoring McGovern's practice of logic and reason. Another memo cited the electoral campaigns of Eugene McCarthy, Robert Kennedy and George McGovern as examples of effective legal actions that shook the foundations of the government and in part inspired the over-reactions of the Nixon Administration that led to its downfall. Cited as examples of civil disobedience, in addition to the blocking of troop trains and other facilities were episodes from the Civil Rights and anti-war movements that stopped cities, states and the federal government from functioning. Various sit-in and takeovers of college buildings, campuses and private business and government buildings are cited. The May Day demonstrations in Washington D.C. were listed as one example. Some of the bombings accomplished by what was known as the Weather Underground constitute additional examples. The memo also mentions the activities of Fred Hampton, a Black Panther in Chicago, whose success "necessitated his assassination by Federal agents in cooperation with the Chicago Police Department." Activities of the Black Panthers in California, New York and Philadelphia are also cited, as are the activities of the American Indian Movement: "especially their takeover of Alcatraz, their 'Trail of Tears' march and takeover of the Bureau of Indians Affairs offices in D.C., and their takeover of Wounded Knee." The Black Jewels Dossier While some writers over the years have argued that militant action by 60s radicals and radical groups was actually the work of infiltrators working as agents provocateurs, a memo entitled "Clearing the Air" that is part of the CIA "Black Jewels Dossier", a formerly secret component of this formerly secret cache of documents, spells out explicitly that the agency was rarely involved in working as agents provocateurs and instead feared the militancy of some of the radical leaders and radical groups. Agents provocateurs were only used, according to this memo, to "put leaders in jeopardy, i.e.: get them to commit actions they could be arrested for or get them to commit actions their organizations would find objectionable, thus undermining their effectiveness, status or position, or to plant evidence that would successfully frame leaders, again, to destroy them, their authority, their ability to carry out what would otherwise be effective actions against the war machine." At the top of their list, a group they write "had to be destroyed" was the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, more commonly known then as the VVAW. Composed of Vietnam veterans, many with frontline combat experience, knowledge of small group tactics, arms and explosives, the agency wrote "The organization must be nullified. It's leaders must be jailed or terminated. Any and all methods are acceptable. Seduce leaders with women and drugs. Pit chapters and leaders against one another. Charge the leadership with a conspiracy and jail them. They must be taken out of the equation." Seven VVAW leaders were subsequently charged with conspiracy to cross state lines to incite to riot at the Democratic and Republican Conventions in 1972, among them Scott Camil, who at a meeting in 1971 had suggested the assassination of congressmen who supported the war. The charge was the same as the one leveled against the Chicago 8: Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, David Dellinger, Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Lee Weiner, John Froines, and Black Panther leader Bobby Seale, all leaders of various factions of the anti-war movement in 1967 and 1968, all organizing protests that occurred at the Democratic Party National Convention in Chicago in 1968. Both trials succeeded in tying up leadership, diverting time and resources, draining funds, and effectively blocked or delayed or terminated altogether the abilities of these men and organizations from working against "the war machine". The memo notes, "With jail sentences and contempt citations hanging over their heads in the summer of 1972, the so-called Chicago 8, most of them present in Miami, were reluctant to do anything that might suggest they were involved with any of the planned civil disobedience or other actions that could get them into further trouble. The fact that all ultimately were exonerated in 1973 is irrelevant, the strategy of tying them up and incapacitating them worked. But the important lesson here," the memo continues, "is that all efforts should be made to divert leaders and anti-war activists and participants from even coming close to achieving the power that was acheived by the leaders and organizations in 1967-1972. See eyes only memo #303: 'Keep Them Marching and Marching and Marching'." Redactions and Erasures There are redacted portions of these memos and parts of some of the tapes have been deleted. Several of these redacted portions and erasures involve conversations about the effectiveness of the McCarthy, RFK and McGovern electoral attempts to beat LBJ, then Nixon, or to unseat Nixon. Investigative reporters with The Fictional Times have pored over these trying to piece together what this information might reveal. There are unclear references to Sirhan Sirhan, the woman in the polka dot dress, members of the LAPD "who [redacted] cooperate [redacted] ceiling panels," and references to "Artie" and "Bama". In other documents, "Bama" is a code name for George Wallace. "Artie" may refer to Arthur Bremer. These documents mention the White House Plumbers work in placing pro-McGovern campaign literature in Arthur Bremer's residence after he shot Wallace in what was a feeble and ultimately unsuccessful attempt to cast blame on the McGovern campaign. An unredacted sentence in the memo notes "The Plumbers may occasionally be successful, but they are not reliable." Conventional wisdom holds that McGovern self-destructed in 1972 but the redacted portions of these documents suggest the CIA was aware of the ongoing work of the White House Plumbers in a variety of actions, and supported, thru various back-channels, these actions. Other memos reveal that the CIA was as worried as the Nixon campaign in 1968 that Hubert Humphrey would win and end the war so they assisted in the back-channel dealings between the Nixon campaign and the South Vietnamese leadership to sabotage the 1968 peace talks. Subsequent manipulation of the economy and events in Vietnam and elsewhere overseas combined with the Plumbers activities to create the Nixon re-election landslide in 1972. (The memo notes the so-called "Southern Strategy" employed by Nixon was actually created by the CIA as a reaction to the growing militancy of the Civil Rights movement and the linkages created philosophically and organizationally between younger and more radical civil rights activist and the growing anti-war movement. That strategy effectively seized the southern Democrats and brought them into the Republican Party, paving the way in 1980 for the creation of "Reagan Democrats" and thus ensuring the perceived need of the Democrats to move further and further to the center as the center shifted further and further to the right, such that the Democrats have not run a genuine anti-war candidate since 1972. The memo also mentions its infiltration of the Democratic Leadership Council [DLC] which rejected Gary Hart and ultimately produced Bill Clinton, Albert Gore, and Joseph Lieberman, all centrists who embraced much of G.W.H. Bush's foreign and economic policies. The creation of the "Reagan Democrats" and the Reagan victory [with agency help in delaying the return of the hostages under Carter] also helped foment the obliteration of the union movement in the U.S., with the destruction of unions under Reagan and the subsequent enacting of NAFTA, GATT and the Telecommunications Bill under Clinton.) But the focus in these documents is not so much the history as the current strategies to continue to disrupt any anti-war movement from successfully ending the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and, if necessary, preventing an anti-war movement from stopping a war with Iran. "Kneeing Bush" The memos reveal part of their strategy is to play various ends against the middle, which is why, according to a memo titled "Kneeing Bush", the agency put together documentation recently released to the public indicating Iran was not an imminent nuclear threat and had halted its program in 2003. "It is necessary to keep everyone is check, including the president," the memo states. It continues, "There are those who believe the CIA has been working to undermine President Bush for awhile and it is to our advantage to encourage those beliefs along with the beliefs among others that we are one hundred percent loyal to the president. See memo #404: 'Keep Them Guessing.'" The memos also reveal that the agency is comfortable with the leading Democratic party candidates for the presidential nomination, and all of the Republican party candidates except Ron Paul. As one memo specifically states, "The only troublemakers are Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul, but they pose no real trouble at this time. Kucinich will inevitably support the Democratic Party nominee even if he vehemently disagrees with that nominee on issues concerning the war, and Paul will either support the Republican or form or join an ineffective third party whose influence on the general election will be nullified by the fact that the Democrat and Republican candidates chosen by their parties both support the war." This memo does acknowledge that both Barack Obama and John Edwards have expressed anti-war positions but also notes that, when it comes to Iran, both have "harmonized with Clinton and the Republicans, adopting hard-line positions. Besides, Edwards does not have much chance and Obama can be manipulated. Should Edwards emerge to victory, certain steps may have to be taken. The memo did not go into further detail. The Real Threat "The Real Threat", a memo that offers a summary and conclusions and proposals for direct action, states in part, "The real threat comes from those among the anti-war community who have realized that the marches are meaningless, have no power, have accomplished nothing, and will accomplish nothing. Sooner or later, anti-war activists will begin to realize they've been mislead. They will begin to engage in meaningful electoral politics or they will organize quasi-legal and illegal activities; these actions could very well threaten those in power and take the situation out of our control. It cannot be stressed enough that this must be prevented." The Real Threat memo continues with actions the agency will take to reinforce a variety of strategies and tactics initiated in 2002, including the "keep them marching" strategy, coupled with "a drumbeat that the 'lesser of two evils' is a win, thus getting most anti-war activists to vote for the Democrat even though the Democrat is for the war," coupled with strategies on manipulations of the media and undermining of leaders and organizations who they perceive may actually become effective. In an addendum memo titled "Maintain Police Control" LAPD Chief Bratton is singled out for criticism for allowing his officers to "lose control of the situation at MacArthur Park during the May Day Immigrant demonstrations. This loss of control and the subsequent police riot, the beating of innocent civilians and media along with the beating of peaceful protesters who in reality posed very little threat to the status quo is precisely the kind of event that can lead to the radicalization of and birth of effective leadership and organization that will trigger the kinds of efforts that were necessary in '67-'72 and that we are seeking to avoid and keep unnecessary now." "Our Way of Life" An additional memo, one that appears to be the most current, indicates that in the event any or all of these memos are made public the agency should deny most of the contents and insist that this is the work either of rogue whistleblowers or clever forgers whose efforts are not only meant to sabotage the CIA but actually aid those who want to bring down the military-industrial-communications-prison complex, expressed rhetorically as "Our way of life". "They should be denounced in no uncertain terms, and steps have already been taken to initiate the various frames necessary to make sure these documents will carry no weight." The memo also notes that its agents already running the anti-war movement will commence denouncing the memos as a CIA plot to undermine and sabotage the anti-war movement by implying that it is indeed run by the CIA, thus maintaining their position, credibility and authority to continue running the anti-war movement and employing currently effective strategies to mitigate or nullify its effectiveness (see memo #303: Keep Them Marching and Marching and Marching)." Given the fail safe to undermine the revelation of the memos and tapes, the editor and investigative team at The Fictional Times concede it is unclear what impact this special report will have. The CIA could not be reached for comment. Take Me To The Fictional Times! |